


run grid.exe

by doseki



Series: The New Grid: A Changed Game [5]
Category: Tron: Legacy
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-29
Updated: 2010-12-29
Packaged: 2017-10-14 05:04:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/145670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doseki/pseuds/doseki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Main contain spoilers for Tron: Legacy. Mild hints of Alan/Flynn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	run grid.exe

Alan watched with bated breath as the text appeared on the screen. On the other side, in the other world, Flynn was using his disc to present Alan with information that he'd sorely need if they were to get out of the Grid. Or if Alan were to join them.

Quorra had brought Flynn to what most of the programs called a "relic." The old I/O tower. But it still worked. And with Clu and Tron both missing and not knowing who still followed the idea of the Perfect World or who wanted it to be free, Flynn had thought it to be the safest place. Very few of the programs knew of this place anymore. Clu and Tron would, but that was a risk that Flynn would have to take.

Sam had been left at home, much to his dismay. "You're too much of a loose cannon right now, kid," Flynn had told his son. "Stay here, and cool down. Try some of that Zen stuff, man. I guarantee you, you'll feel better."

Sam had made a rude gesture in his father's direction, which Flynn had to try _damn_ hard to keep a smile off his face. He rather liked Sam being so fiery, but he also knew that Sam was going to feel more and more exhausted, the more energy he used. He could conceivably stay on the Grid for thousands of cycles, but he would be little better than a zombie.

Alan had to open the portal again. If not for Flynn, for Sam to recharge.

Quorra was sitting in the rover, waiting for Flynn while he communicated with Alan. He was glad - he knew Quorra could take care of herself but he felt better knowing that she was safe inside several layers of armor, and thus he could put his full concentration on sending Alan a message.

Alan. It had been years. He wondered if his old friend too had gone gray, if he had more wrinkles, if his eyes were still startlingly bright hazel behind his glasses (which Flynn had never understood that he noticed such things about him), or if he still wore glasses, or perhaps he moved to contacts. If he and Lora had ever married. (There was that stab of jealousy.)

These were the things running through Flynn's mind as he held his disc high in the air, waiting for some response.

On the other side of the screen, Alan watched as characters showed up. There were several nonsense characters, but he deciphered it easily enough.

He typed them in, and hit enter. `run grid.exe`

The cursor moved. "Get ready, man."

Alan smiled. That surely was from Flynn, but before he could "get ready," he felt like he was being split into millions of pieces, sucked through something the size of a pin, and spit back out again, more or less in one piece.

"What did I tell you, man?" Alan heard a voice say with a laugh. "You weren't ready were you?"

Alan got up, looked around, trying to understand what it was he was seeing. Lights. Bright lights, running in lines, black between, a huge beam of light above, and Flynn. Flynn with a beard, with gray hair, wearing some sort of...robe. But it was Flynn. Unmistakably Flynn. "This is the Grid," Alan said, reaching out to see if it really was Flynn. He was solid enough.

"Yeah, it is. So it's still open. Fantastic. I'll give you a tour later. We need to get out of here. I need to do some programming from the other side," Flynn said.

Alan stared at Flynn in disbelief. "Did it ever cross your mind that you should try to _leave_ first and then see if you can go back? What if I got stuck in here too?"

Flynn, aged as he was, still looked as cocky as he did twenty-some odd years ago. "Relax, Alan. The portal runs both ways. And I needed to make sure that I could still issue commands from the other side. C'mon, I haven't been in the Real World for over twenty years. I'm dying for a Whopper. Do they still make those?"

"Where's Sam?" Alan asked.

"He's back at my place. Quorra'll take care of him."

"Quorra?"

"I'll explain later," Flynn said. "Let's go, this is only open for a few microcycles. Oh. Get ready."

There was a brilliant flash of light, and the same sensation as before, and suddenly, he - and Flynn! - were back in the dusty old office.


End file.
